Tree change. Part 1: Dreaming

You know those personality profile tools…my husband comes up as a dreamer. A loveable trait indeed. I am a doer – the practical realist. So although at times it seemed like it would never happen. It eventually did. Six years later.

It began when we spent a month riding around Tasmania on our Vespas. Our eyes absorbed the picturesque landscapes and our bellies relished the produce. At the end of the first day touring a tree change seed had been planted in our hearts and soon after my friend proposed marriage.

I signed up to job alerts in my related field (a practical response) and fiancé meandered around the internet reading blogs and generally getting inspired. For years it was the lack of potential job security for me that really had me digging my heels in. It became clear that basing the dream around employment was not going to get us there.

In this time we married, and had two children. Ironically, I lost my job twice and each time found a replacement role. Both times I was pregnant. In retrospect, the job was not that permanent and not that secure.

The tree change dream itself suffered from peaks of interest and lulls of ‘too hard a challenge’. The importance of family became more obvious as we ourselves became parents. I couldn’t bear the thought of moving so far away.

But working in the city, living in the burbs, raising kids, trying to renovate a small house, running a small business – it can wear you down. I started blogging about my personal journey in trying to raise children more sustainably in our situation. And there were many things we did with relative ease. It’s totally doable.

I grew up without ever owning a front door key. Our property was a place to be explored. I learnt about birds, plants and animals. It was a childhood I treasured. And I wanted the same for my children.

So we adjusted the dream. Instead of Tasmania, we started to look at options closer to Brisbane. Husband must have sent me dozens of property links to ‘check out’ over the years. The first property that was in the same state was land only and the restrictions on a possible house site disappointed us. Disheartened, we let it go. A couple years later another property sparked special interest. Among the many appealing features and an established home the street name was coincidently the same as our son’s. Not a common name. Perhaps this aspect meant we discussed the idea more than we would have otherwise. Husband wanted to view it. I told him to come back to me with more specific details. He did. The following Saturday he booked an inspection. That’s when it became real…

Lessons learnt:

• It does not matter how long the dream period is or how top of mind it feels along the way. Recognising you have a desire and a will to fulfil the dream is important.

• It’s your dream. You can adjust what it looks like as much as you like.

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about me

Brooke

I've always been eco minded, and having children only seemed to amplify the importance of ‘living gently’. We started this journey living in a small house in the suburbs of Brisbane. It was a few years later that we finally took the plunge and followed our tree change dream. We now own 14 acres on the gorgeous Granite Belt in Queensland, Australia and are a family with two kids, chickens, pigs and bees.